Prom 20: Götterdämmerung at the Royal Albert Hall

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In 50 years of Promming, I have collected some sublime memories. Watching and hearing Nina Stemme deliver Brünnhilde’s Immolationfrom high up in the Royal Albert Hall’s organ-loft may just trump the lot.

That was partly because of Stemme herself. Has any Brünnhilde ever sang with this irresistible combination of burnished golden power and lyrical warmth, or conveyed such vulnerability while also rising to the transcendental glories of those final pages?

Mostly, though, it was because the Immolation and the soul-shuddering Funeral March that preceded it were exactly what 5,000 spellbound promenaders hoped they would be: magnificent climaxes to an unforgettable